Native application testing

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a method includes deploying an application to a plurality of client systems associated with a plurality of users, respectively, wherein the application is installed on each of the client systems, and wherein one or more treatments can be remotely activated on the application, receiving, from a first client system associated with a first user of the plurality of users, a request from the application installed on the first client system to access the application server, determining whether the first user belongs in a treatment group associated with a first treatment, remotely activating the first treatment on the first client system associated with the first user if the first user belongs in the treatment group, and synchronizing activation of the first treatment in response to subsequent access by the first client system.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/948,893, filed 23 Jul. 2013.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to online social networks andlaunching features or products in online environments.

BACKGROUND

A social-networking system, which may include a social-networkingwebsite, may enable its users (such as persons or organizations) tointeract with it and with each other through it. The social-networkingsystem may, with input from a user, create and store in thesocial-networking system a user profile associated with the user. Theuser profile may include demographic information, communication-channelinformation, and information on personal interests of the user. Thesocial-networking system may also, with input from a user, create andstore a record of relationships of the user with other users of thesocial-networking system, as well as provide services (e.g., wall posts,photo-sharing, event organization, messaging, games, or advertisements)to facilitate social interaction between or among users.

The social-networking system may send over one or more networks contentor messages related to its services to a mobile or other computingsystem of a user. A user may also install software applications on amobile or other computing system of the user for accessing a userprofile of the user and other data within the social-networking system.The social-networking system may generate a personalized set of contentobjects to display to a user, such as a newsfeed of aggregated storiesof other users connected to the user.

A/B testing is a standard approach for evaluating the effects of onlineexperiments. A/B testing typically uses randomized experiments with twovariants (typically referred to as A and B), which represent the controland treatment in the experiment. Such experiments are commonly used inweb development and marketing, as well as in more traditional forms ofadvertising. In online settings, the objective is typically to determinehow changes to the online environment affect user behavior with theenvironment. The control and treatment groups are compared, which aregenerally identical except for a single variation that might impact auser's behavior.

SUMMARY OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may improve hownew products, features, advertisements, or experiences (“treatments”)are launched to users of the online social network by providing userswith native application that include treatments that can be controlledand monitored remotely. A/B testing is a standard approach forevaluating the effect of online experiments. The goal is typically toestimate the average treatment effect of a new product, feature, orcondition by exposing a sample of the overall population to it. Inparticular embodiments, the experiments may also include measuring amatrix of parameters (e.g., a number of likes, a number of comments,revenue generated, etc.) against a set of users to determine theeffectiveness of the particular treatment. The problem is that while atreatment may be activated on a particular client system, particularevents may cause the treatment to be disabled. For example, acache-clearing event (e.g., a clearing of settings files, temporaryfiles, cookies, or other cached objects that specify whether aparticular treatment should be active on the application) or a deletionevent (e.g., the user deletes and re-installs the application) may resetthe application so that it does not provide the treatment to the user.By synchronizing activation of the treatment between the client systemsand the social-networking system, the experiment can be run so thatusers are effectively maintained in the treatment group, even if thereis a cache-clearing or deletion event. In this way, the A/B experimentcan be run so that users are effectively maintained in the treatmentgroup, even if there is a cache-clearing or deletion event. Datareceived from this first set of users can then be analyzed to determinethe treatment effect of the treatment on those users. The treatment maythen be modified before being rolled out to users in the next set ofusers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment associated with asocial-networking system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example social graph.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method for testing native applications onremote clients.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example computer system.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 associated with asocial-networking system. Network environment 100 includes a clientsystem 130, a social-networking system 160, and a third-party system 170connected to each other by a network 110. Although FIG. 1 illustrates aparticular arrangement of client system 130, social-networking system160, third-party system 170, and network 110, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable arrangement of client system 130,social-networking system 160, third-party system 170, and network 110.As an example and not by way of limitation, two or more of client system130, social-networking system 160, and third-party system 170 may beconnected to each other directly, bypassing network 110. As anotherexample, two or more of client system 130, social-networking system 160,and third-party system 170 may be physically or logically co-locatedwith each other in whole or in part. Moreover, although FIG. 1illustrates a particular number of client systems 130, social-networkingsystems 160, third-party systems 170, and networks 110, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable number of client systems 130,social-networking systems 160, third-party systems 170, and networks110. As an example and not by way of limitation, network environment 100may include multiple client system 130, social-networking systems 160,third-party systems 170, and networks 110.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable network 110. As an example andnot by way of limitation, one or more portions of network 110 mayinclude an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephone network, or a combinationof two or more of these. Network 110 may include one or more networks110.

Links 150 may connect client system 130, social-networking system 160,and third-party system 170 to communication network 110 or to eachother. This disclosure contemplates any suitable links 150. Inparticular embodiments, one or more links 150 include one or morewireline (such as for example Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Data OverCable Service Interface Specification (DOC SIS)), wireless (such as forexample Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX)), or optical (such as for example Synchronous Optical Network(SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)) links. In particularembodiments, one or more links 150 each include an ad hoc network, anintranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, aportion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a cellulartechnology-based network, a satellite communications technology-basednetwork, another link 150, or a combination of two or more such links150. Links 150 need not necessarily be the same throughout networkenvironment 100. One or more first links 150 may differ in one or morerespects from one or more second links 150.

In particular embodiments, client system 130 may be an electronic deviceincluding hardware, software, or embedded logic components or acombination of two or more such components and capable of carrying outthe appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by clientsystem 130. As an example and not by way of limitation, a client system130 may include a computer system such as a desktop computer, notebookor laptop computer, netbook, a tablet computer, e-book reader, GPSdevice, camera, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld electronicdevice, cellular telephone, smartphone, other suitable electronicdevice, or any suitable combination thereof. This disclosurecontemplates any suitable client systems 130. A client system 130 mayenable a network user at client system 130 to access network 110. Aclient system 130 may enable its user to communicate with other users atother client systems 130.

In particular embodiments, client system 130 may include a web browser132, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, GOOGLE CHROME or MOZILLAFIREFOX, and may have one or more add-ons, plug-ins, or otherextensions, such as TOOLBAR or YAHOO TOOLBAR. A user at client system130 may enter a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other addressdirecting the web browser 132 to a particular server (such as server162, or a server associated with a third-party system 170), and the webbrowser 132 may generate a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requestand communicate the HTTP request to server. The server may accept theHTTP request and communicate to client system 130 one or more Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML) files responsive to the HTTP request. Clientsystem 130 may render a webpage based on the HTML files from the serverfor presentation to the user. This disclosure contemplates any suitablewebpage files. As an example and not by way of limitation, webpages mayrender from HTML files, Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language (XHTML)files, or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, according toparticular needs. Such pages may also execute scripts such as, forexample and without limitation, those written in JAVASCRIPT, JAVA,MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT, combinations of markup language and scripts suchas AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT and XML), and the like. Herein,reference to a webpage encompasses one or more corresponding webpagefiles (which a browser may use to render the webpage) and vice versa,where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may be anetwork-addressable computing system that can host an online socialnetwork. Social-networking system 160 may generate, store, receive, andsend social-networking data, such as, for example, user-profile data,concept-profile data, social-graph information, or other suitable datarelated to the online social network. Social-networking system 160 maybe accessed by the other components of network environment 100 eitherdirectly or via network 110. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 160 may include one or more servers 162. Eachserver 162 may be a unitary server or a distributed server spanningmultiple computers or multiple datacenters. Servers 162 may be ofvarious types, such as, for example and without limitation, web server,news server, mail server, message server, advertising server, fileserver, application server, exchange server, database server, proxyserver, another server suitable for performing functions or processesdescribed herein, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments,each server 162 may include hardware, software, or embedded logiccomponents or a combination of two or more such components for carryingout the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by server162. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 164 may includeone or more data stores 164. Data stores 164 may be used to storevarious types of information. In particular embodiments, the informationstored in data stores 164 may be organized according to specific datastructures. In particular embodiments, each data store 164 may be arelational, columnar, correlation, or other suitable database. Althoughthis disclosure describes or illustrates particular types of databases,this disclosure contemplates any suitable types of databases. Particularembodiments may provide interfaces that enable a client system 130, asocial-networking system 160, or a third-party system 170 to manage,retrieve, modify, add, or delete, the information stored in data store164.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may store one ormore social graphs in one or more data stores 164. In particularembodiments, a social graph may include multiple nodes—which may includemultiple user nodes (each corresponding to a particular user) ormultiple concept nodes (each corresponding to a particular concept)—andmultiple edges connecting the nodes. Social-networking system 160 mayprovide users of the online social network the ability to communicateand interact with other users. In particular embodiments, users may jointhe online social network via social-networking system 160 and then addconnections (e.g., relationships) to a number of other users ofsocial-networking system 160 whom they want to be connected to. Herein,the term “friend” may refer to any other user of social-networkingsystem 160 with whom a user has formed a connection, association, orrelationship via social-networking system 160.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may provideusers with the ability to take actions on various types of items orobjects, supported by social-networking system 160. As an example andnot by way of limitation, the items and objects may include groups orsocial networks to which users of social-networking system 160 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use, transactions that allowusers to buy or sell items via the service, interactions withadvertisements that a user may perform, or other suitable items orobjects. A user may interact with anything that is capable of beingrepresented in social-networking system 160 or by an external system ofthird-party system 170, which is separate from social-networking system160 and coupled to social-networking system 160 via a network 110.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may be capableof linking a variety of entities. As an example and not by way oflimitation, social-networking system 160 may enable users to interactwith each other as well as receive content from third-party systems 170or other entities, or to allow users to interact with these entitiesthrough an application programming interfaces (API) or othercommunication channels.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 170 may include one ormore types of servers, one or more data stores, one or more interfaces,including but not limited to APIs, one or more web services, one or morecontent sources, one or more networks, or any other suitable components,e.g., that servers may communicate with. A third-party system 170 may beoperated by a different entity from an entity operatingsocial-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, however,social-networking system 160 and third-party systems 170 may operate inconjunction with each other to provide social-networking services tousers of social-networking system 160 or third-party systems 170. Inthis sense, social-networking system 160 may provide a platform, orbackbone, which other systems, such as third-party systems 170, may useto provide social-networking services and functionality to users acrossthe Internet.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 170 may include athird-party content object provider. A third-party content objectprovider may include one or more sources of content objects, which maybe communicated to a client system 130. As an example and not by way oflimitation, content objects may include information regarding things oractivities of interest to the user, such as, for example, movie showtimes, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant menus, productinformation and reviews, or other suitable information. As anotherexample and not by way of limitation, content objects may includeincentive content objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, giftcertificates, or other suitable incentive objects.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 also includesuser-generated content objects, which may enhance a user's interactionswith social-networking system 160. User-generated content may includeanything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” to social-networkingsystem 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, a usercommunicates posts to social-networking system 160 from a client system130. Posts may include data such as status updates or other textualdata, location information, photos, videos, links, music or othersimilar data or media. Content may also be added to social-networkingsystem 160 by a third-party through a “communication channel,” such as anewsfeed or stream.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may include avariety of servers, sub-systems, programs, modules, logs, and datastores. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 mayinclude one or more of the following: a web server, action logger,API-request server, relevance-and-ranking engine, content-objectclassifier, notification controller, action log,third-party-content-object-exposure log, inference module,authorization/privacy server, search module, advertisement-targetingmodule, user-interface module, user-profile store, connection store,third-party content store, or location store. Social-networking system160 may also include suitable components such as network interfaces,security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers,management-and-network-operations consoles, other suitable components,or any suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 160 may include one or more user-profile storesfor storing user profiles. A user profile may include, for example,biographic information, demographic information, behavioral information,social information, or other types of descriptive information, such aswork experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences, interests,affinities, or location. Interest information may include interestsrelated to one or more categories. Categories may be general orspecific. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user “likes”an article about a brand of shoes the category may be the brand, or thegeneral category of “shoes” or “clothing.” A connection store may beused for storing connection information about users. The connectioninformation may indicate users who have similar or common workexperience, group memberships, hobbies, educational history, or are inany way related or share common attributes. The connection informationmay also include user-defined connections between different users andcontent (both internal and external). A web server may be used forlinking social-networking system 160 to one or more client systems 130or one or more third-party system 170 via network 110. The web servermay include a mail server or other messaging functionality for receivingand routing messages between social-networking system 160 and one ormore client systems 130. An API-request server may allow a third-partysystem 170 to access information from social-networking system 160 bycalling one or more APIs. An action logger may be used to receivecommunications from a web server about a user's actions on or offsocial-networking system 160. In conjunction with the action log, athird-party-content-object log may be maintained of user exposures tothird-party-content objects. A notification controller may provideinformation regarding content objects to a client system 130.Information may be pushed to a client system 130 as notifications, orinformation may be pulled from client system 130 responsive to a requestreceived from client system 130. Authorization servers may be used toenforce one or more privacy settings of the users of social-networkingsystem 160. A privacy setting of a user determines how particularinformation associated with a user can be shared. The authorizationserver may allow users to opt in to or opt out of having their actionslogged by social-networking system 160 or shared with other systems(e.g., third-party system 170), such as, for example, by settingappropriate privacy settings. Third-party-content-object stores may beused to store content objects received from third parties, such as athird-party system 170. Location stores may be used for storing locationinformation received from client systems 130 associated with users.Advertisement-pricing modules may combine social information, thecurrent time, location information, or other suitable information toprovide relevant advertisements, in the form of notifications, to auser.

FIG. 2 illustrates example social graph 200. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 160 may store one or more social graphs 200 inone or more data stores. In particular embodiments, social graph 200 mayinclude multiple nodes—which may include multiple user nodes 202 ormultiple concept nodes 204—and multiple edges 206 connecting the nodes.Example social graph 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 is shown, for didacticpurposes, in a two-dimensional visual map representation. In particularembodiments, a social-networking system 160, client system 130, orthird-party system 170 may access social graph 200 and relatedsocial-graph information for suitable applications. The nodes and edgesof social graph 200 may be stored as data objects, for example, in adata store (such as a social-graph database). Such a data store mayinclude one or more searchable or queryable indexes of nodes or edges ofsocial graph 200.

In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may correspond to a user ofsocial-networking system 160. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user may be an individual (human user), an entity (e.g.,an enterprise, business, or third-party application), or a group (e.g.,of individuals or entities) that interacts or communicates with or oversocial-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, when a userregisters for an account with social-networking system 160,social-networking system 160 may create a user node 202 corresponding tothe user, and store the user node 202 in one or more data stores. Usersand user nodes 202 described herein may, where appropriate, refer toregistered users and user nodes 202 associated with registered users. Inaddition or as an alternative, users and user nodes 202 described hereinmay, where appropriate, refer to users that have not registered withsocial-networking system 160. In particular embodiments, a user node 202may be associated with information provided by a user or informationgathered by various systems, including social-networking system 160. Asan example and not by way of limitation, a user may provide his or hername, profile picture, contact information, birth date, sex, maritalstatus, family status, employment, education background, preferences,interests, or other demographic information. In particular embodiments,a user node 202 may be associated with one or more data objectscorresponding to information associated with a user. In particularembodiments, a user node 202 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may correspond to aconcept. As an example and not by way of limitation, a concept maycorrespond to a place (such as, for example, a movie theater,restaurant, landmark, or city); a website (such as, for example, awebsite associated with social-network system 160 or a third-partywebsite associated with a web-application server); an entity (such as,for example, a person, business, group, sports team, or celebrity); aresource (such as, for example, an audio file, video file, digitalphoto, text file, structured document, or application) which may belocated within social-networking system 160 or on an external server,such as a web-application server; real or intellectual property (suchas, for example, a sculpture, painting, movie, game, song, idea,photograph, or written work); a game; an activity; an idea or theory;another suitable concept; or two or more such concepts. A concept node204 may be associated with information of a concept provided by a useror information gathered by various systems, including social-networkingsystem 160. As an example and not by way of limitation, information of aconcept may include a name or a title; one or more images (e.g., animage of the cover page of a book); a location (e.g., an address or ageographical location); a website (which may be associated with a URL);contact information (e.g., a phone number or an email address); othersuitable concept information; or any suitable combination of suchinformation. In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may beassociated with one or more data objects corresponding to informationassociated with concept node 204. In particular embodiments, a conceptnode 204 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a node in social graph 200 may represent orbe represented by a webpage (which may be referred to as a “profilepage”). Profile pages may be hosted by or accessible tosocial-networking system 160. Profile pages may also be hosted onthird-party websites associated with a third-party server 170. As anexample and not by way of limitation, a profile page corresponding to aparticular external webpage may be the particular external webpage andthe profile page may correspond to a particular concept node 204.Profile pages may be viewable by all or a selected subset of otherusers. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user node 202 mayhave a corresponding user-profile page in which the corresponding usermay add content, make declarations, or otherwise express himself orherself. As another example and not by way of limitation, a concept node204 may have a corresponding concept-profile page in which one or moreusers may add content, make declarations, or express themselves,particularly in relation to the concept corresponding to concept node204.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may represent athird-party webpage or resource hosted by a third-party system 170. Thethird-party webpage or resource may include, among other elements,content, a selectable or other icon, or other inter-actable object(which may be implemented, for example, in JavaScript, AJAX, or PHPcodes) representing an action or activity. As an example and not by wayof limitation, a third-party webpage may include a selectable icon suchas “like,” “check in,” “eat,” “recommend,” or another suitable action oractivity. A user viewing the third-party webpage may perform an actionby selecting one of the icons (e.g., “eat”), causing a client system 130to send to social-networking system 160 a message indicating the user'saction. In response to the message, social-networking system 160 maycreate an edge (e.g., an “eat” edge) between a user node 202corresponding to the user and a concept node 204 corresponding to thethird-party webpage or resource and store edge 206 in one or more datastores.

In particular embodiments, a pair of nodes in social graph 200 may beconnected to each other by one or more edges 206. An edge 206 connectinga pair of nodes may represent a relationship between the pair of nodes.In particular embodiments, an edge 206 may include or represent one ormore data objects or attributes corresponding to the relationshipbetween a pair of nodes. As an example and not by way of limitation, afirst user may indicate that a second user is a “friend” of the firstuser. In response to this indication, social-networking system 160 maysend a “friend request” to the second user. If the second user confirmsthe “friend request,” social-networking system 160 may create an edge206 connecting the first user's user node 202 to the second user's usernode 202 in social graph 200 and store edge 206 as social-graphinformation in one or more of data stores 164. In the example of FIG. 2,social graph 200 includes an edge 206 indicating a friend relationbetween user nodes 202 of user “A” and user “B” and an edge indicating afriend relation between user nodes 202 of user “C” and user “B.”Although this disclosure describes or illustrates particular edges 206with particular attributes connecting particular user nodes 202, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 206 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 202. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 206 may represent a friendship, family relationship,business or employment relationship, fan relationship, followerrelationship, visitor relationship, subscriber relationship,superior/subordinate relationship, reciprocal relationship,non-reciprocal relationship, another suitable type of relationship, ortwo or more such relationships. Moreover, although this disclosuregenerally describes nodes as being connected, this disclosure alsodescribes users or concepts as being connected. Herein, references tousers or concepts being connected may, where appropriate, refer to thenodes corresponding to those users or concepts being connected in socialgraph 200 by one or more edges 206.

In particular embodiments, an edge 206 between a user node 202 and aconcept node 204 may represent a particular action or activity performedby a user associated with user node 202 toward a concept associated witha concept node 204. As an example and not by way of limitation, asillustrated in FIG. 2, a user may “like,” “attended,” “played,”“listened,” “cooked,” “worked at,” or “watched” a concept, each of whichmay correspond to a edge type or subtype. A concept-profile pagecorresponding to a concept node 204 may include, for example, aselectable “check in” icon (such as, for example, a clickable “check in”icon) or a selectable “add to favorites” icon. Similarly, after a userclicks these icons, social-networking system 160 may create a “favorite”edge or a “check in” edge in response to a user's action correspondingto a respective action. As another example and not by way of limitation,a user (user “C”) may listen to a particular song (“Imagine”) using aparticular application (SPOTIFY, which is an online music application).In this case, social-networking system 160 may create a “listened” edge206 and a “used” edge (as illustrated in FIG. 2) between user nodes 202corresponding to the user and concept nodes 204 corresponding to thesong and application to indicate that the user listened to the song andused the application. Moreover, social-networking system 160 may createa “played” edge 206 (as illustrated in FIG. 2) between concept nodes 204corresponding to the song and the application to indicate that theparticular song was played by the particular application. In this case,“played” edge 206 corresponds to an action performed by an externalapplication (SPOTIFY) on an external audio file (the song “Imagine”).Although this disclosure describes particular edges 206 with particularattributes connecting user nodes 202 and concept nodes 204, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 206 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 202 and concept nodes 204. Moreover,although this disclosure describes edges between a user node 202 and aconcept node 204 representing a single relationship, this disclosurecontemplates edges between a user node 202 and a concept node 204representing one or more relationships. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 206 may represent both that a user likes and hasused at a particular concept. Alternatively, another edge 206 mayrepresent each type of relationship (or multiples of a singlerelationship) between a user node 202 and a concept node 204 (asillustrated in FIG. 2 between user node 202 for user “E” and conceptnode 204 for “SPOTIFY”).

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may create anedge 206 between a user node 202 and a concept node 204 in social graph200. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user viewing aconcept-profile page (such as, for example, by using a web browser or aspecial-purpose application hosted by the user's client system 130) mayindicate that he or she likes the concept represented by the conceptnode 204 by clicking or selecting a “Like” icon, which may cause theuser's client system 130 to send to social-networking system 160 amessage indicating the user's liking of the concept associated with theconcept-profile page. In response to the message, social-networkingsystem 160 may create an edge 206 between user node 202 associated withthe user and concept node 204, as illustrated by “like” edge 206 betweenthe user and concept node 204. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 160 may store an edge 206 in one or more datastores. In particular embodiments, an edge 206 may be automaticallyformed by social-networking system 160 in response to a particular useraction. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first useruploads a picture, watches a movie, or listens to a song, an edge 206may be formed between user node 202 corresponding to the first user andconcept nodes 204 corresponding to those concepts. Although thisdisclosure describes forming particular edges 206 in particular manners,this disclosure contemplates forming any suitable edges 206 in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may improve hownew products, features, advertisements, or experiences (“treatments”)are launched to users of the online social network by providing userswith native application that include treatments that can be controlledand monitored remotely. A/B testing is a standard approach forevaluating the effect of online experiments. The goal is typically toestimate the average treatment effect of a new product, feature, orcondition by exposing a sample of the overall population to it. Inparticular embodiments, the experiments may also include measuring amatrix of parameters (e.g., a number of likes, a number of comments,revenue generated, etc.) against a set of users to determine theeffectiveness of the particular treatment. The problem is that while atreatment may be activated on a particular client system 130, particularevents may cause the treatment to be disabled. For example, acache-clearing event (e.g., a clearing of settings files, temporaryfiles, cookies, or other cached objects that specify whether aparticular treatment should be active on the application) or a deletionevent (e.g., the user deletes and re-installs the application) may resetthe application so that it does not provide the treatment to the user.By synchronizing activation of the treatment between client systems 130and social-networking system 160, the experiment can be run so thatusers are effectively maintained in the treatment group, even if thereis a cache-clearing or deletion event. In this way, the A/B experimentcan be run so that users are effectively maintained in the treatmentgroup, even if there is a cache-clearing or deletion event. Datareceived from this first set of users can then be analyzed to determinethe treatment effect of the treatment on those users. The treatment maythen be modified before being rolled out to users in the next set ofusers. This stepwise approach to rolling out the treatment may be takenuntil the treatment has been provided to all users of the online socialnetwork. Although this disclosure describes providing treatments tousers and determining treatment effects in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates providing treatments to user or determiningtreatment effects in any suitable manner.

In the A/B testing approach, it is important to make sure a user in thetreatment group is actually being exposed to the treatment. When a newproduct, feature, etc., is rolled out in a desktop environment (e.g.,via a web browser 132), social-networking system 160 can determine userexposure to the treatment (or lack of it) as part of the user's viewingof the webpage servers by social-networking system 160. However, wheresocial-networking system 160 is accessed via a native applicationinstalled on a client system 130 (e.g., from an app on a mobile client),user exposure to the treatment is not necessarily certain becausesocial-networking system 160 may not always be able to detect what theuser is viewing or doing on the native application, whether the nativeapplication has been deleted from client system 130, whether usage datarelated to the native application has been cleared from a cache onclient system 130, and so on. These uncertainties in user exposure tothe native application may reduce accuracy in measuring the matrix ofparameters for determining effectiveness of the treatment.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may deploy anapplication to a plurality of client systems 130 associated with aplurality of users, respectively. The application may be installed oneach of the client systems 130. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a native application may be installed on a mobile clientsystem 130 that allows the user to access social-networking system 160via the native application rather than via a web browser 132. Inparticular embodiments, one or more treatments may be remotely activatedon the application. For AB randomized experiments, the treatmentcondition of an individual decides whether or not they are subject to anintervention. This typically takes two values: ‘treatment’ or ‘control’.In most randomized experiments, the experimenter has explicit controlover how to randomize the treatment conditions, and generallyindividuals are assigned independently. Meanwhile, the exposurecondition of an individual determines how they experience theintervention in full conjunction with how the world experiences theintervention. As an example and not by way of limitation, the nativeapplication may include functionality so that particular features orexperiences are included with the application, but not necessarilyprovided to the user. In other words, the native application may includeone or more optional treatments. These treatments may be activated, forexample, in response to instructions from social-networking system 160to activate a specific feature or experience in the native application.The treatments may be remotely activated on a user-by-user basis, suchthat, for example, particular user may be provided with a treatment,while others may not. Although this disclosure describes deployingparticular applications in a particular manner, this disclosurecontemplates deploying any suitable applications in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may provide atreatment to a first set of client systems 130 corresponding to a firstset of users, respectively. The treatment may be, for example, aparticular advertisement, product, feature, experience, other suitabletreatment, or any combination thereof. Under ordinary randomized trialswhere the stable unit treatment value assumption is a reasonableapproximation (such as, for example, when a search engine AB tests theeffect of their color scheme upon the visitation time of their users)the population is divided into two groups: those in the “treatment”group (who see the new color scheme A) and those in the control group(who see the default color scheme B). Assuming there are negligibleinterference effects between users, each individual in the treated groupresponds just as he or she would if the entire population were treated,and each individual in the control group responds just as he or shewould if the entire population were in control. In this manner, we mayimagine that we are observing results from samples of two distinct“parallel universes” at the same time (for example, “Universe A” inwhich color scheme A is used for everyone, and “Universe B” in whichcolor scheme B is used for everyone) and we may make inferences aboutthe properties of user behavior in each of these universes. Thetreatment may be provided via the online social network or via athird-party system 170. Social-networking system 160 may then determinea treatment effect of the treatment for the users of the first set ofusers. Although this disclosure described proving particular treatmentsin a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates providing anysuitable treatments in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may synchronizewith client systems 130 to provide a treatment to the client system 130.This may allow social-networking system 160 to accurately recordexposure and usage of a native application locally installed at a clientsystem 130. Client system 130 may synchronize the states of the nativeapplication with social-networking system 160 by sending back tosocial-networking system 160 events corresponding to changes in statesof the native application on client system 130. As an example and not byway of limitation, the events sent to social-networking system 160 maybe a deployment event, an exposure event, a cache-clearing event, or aconversion event associated with the native application. By receivingthose events from multiple client systems 130, social-networking system160 may construct accurate logs of exposure and usage of the native appat those client systems 130, and calculate the matrix of parametersaccurately. As an example and not by way of limitation,social-networking system 160 may receive a request from an applicationinstalled on the client system 130 to access social-networking system160. Social-networking system 160 may then determine whether the clientsystem belongs in a treatment group associated with the treatment. Ifthe client system 130 belongs in the treatment group, social-networkingsystem 160 may remotely activate the treatment on the client system 130.Similarly, if the client system 130 belongs in a control group,social-networking system 160 may not activate any treatments (or, if thetreatment was for some reason activated, social-networking system 160may at that point deactivate the treatment). In response to subsequentaccess by the client system 130, social-networking system 160 maysynchronize activation of the treatment. The treatment may have beendeactivated for a variety of reasons, such that social-networking system160 needs to determine whether the client system 130 is still providingthe treatment to the user. For example, in response to a subsequentaccess by the client system 130, social-networking system 160 maydetermine whether the treatment is still active on the client system130. If so, then no action may need to be taken. However, if thetreatment is determined to be not active on the client system 130,social-networking system 160 may remotely re-active the treatment on theclient system 130. In this way, the AB experiment can be run so thatusers are effectively maintained in the treatment group, even if thereis a cache-clearing or deletion event. Although this disclosuredescribes synchronizing particular treatments in a particular manner,this disclosure contemplates synchronizing any suitable treatments inany suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may deactivatethe treatment on the first set of client systems 130 after a specifiedtimeout period. Any suitable timeout period may be used. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, the treatment on the native applicationmay timeout eight weeks after being activated on client system 130. Asanother example and not by way of limitation, the treatment may timeouton a specified date. The timeout period may be specified on auser-by-user basis (e.g., eight weeks after the particular customerinstalled the application), or on a global basis (e.g., eight weeksafter the experiment began, regardless of when during that period a userentered the experiment). Deactivating the treatment means that theproduct, feature, experience, etc. that comprised the treatment wouldstop being provided to the user. After timing out, the user may then beprovided with the default (e.g., control) product/experience on thenative application. In particular embodiments, client system 130 maysend a timeout event to social-networking system 160. In this way,social-networking system 160 may not need to track all the experimentsassociated with the native app, thus improving overall productivity anddevelopment efficiency. Although this disclosure describes deactivatingtreatments in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplatesdeactivating treatments in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may provide thetreatment to clusters of users in a network-aware manner.Social-networking system 160 may identify a plurality of clusters insocial graph 200 using graph cluster randomization. Each identifiedcluster may comprise a discrete set of nodes from the plurality of nodesof social graph 200. In particular embodiments, social-networking system160 may specify clusters such that a threshold number of nodes in eachcluster may be network exposed with respect to the other nodes in thecluster. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 mayidentify clusters based at least in part on the social-graph affinity ofusers with respect to each other. Rather than just clustering usersbased on being neighbors in social graph 200 (i.e., being connected byan edge 206), social-networking system 160 may cluster neighbors havinga relatively high social-graph affinity for each other. In other words,user i may be clustered with j neighbors having above a thresholdaffinity with respect to user i, while neighbors having less affinityfor user i may not necessarily be included in the cluster. Although thisdisclosure describes identifying clusters with network exposure in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates identifying clusterswith network exposure in any suitable manner. In connection withidentifying and selecting user sets, particular embodiments may utilizeone or more systems, components, elements, functions, methods,operations, or steps disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/933,093, filed 10 Jul. 2013, which is incorporated by reference.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may receivetreatment data from the first set of client systems 130.Social-networking system 160 may calculate a matrix of parameters basedon the set of users that were exposed to a particular treatment of thenative application (as determined by the events sent back tosocial-networking system 160) during a specified period of time. For thesame period of time, social-networking system 160 may also construct acontrol group including users who were not exposed to the particulartreatment of the native application while accessing social-networkingsystem 160 from their client systems 130 during the same period of time.In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may receiveexposure data from the first set of client systems. The exposure datafor each client system 130 may identify an exposure of the user of theclient system 130 the treatment. As an example and not by way oflimitation, if the treatment is a particular advertisement, the exposuredata may identify whether the advertisement was displayed to the user ofthe native application. In particular embodiments, social-networkingsystem 160 may receive conversion data from the first set of clientsystems. The conversion data for each client system 130 may identifyuser interactions with respect to the treatment. As an example and notby way of limitation, continuing with the prior example, if thetreatment was an advertisement, the conversion data may identify whetherclicked on or otherwise interacted with the advertisement. Although thisdisclosure describes receiving particular treatment data in a particularmanner, this disclosure contemplates receiving any suitable treatmentdata in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may determine atreatment effect of a treatment for the users of a first set of users.Social-networking system 160 may test a treatment by providing it to asubset of users of the online social network. In particular embodiments,the treatment may have a “social” component in that i′s reaction to thetreatment depends on whether a neighbor j in the online social networkalso has the treatment. This social component may also be referred to asthe network effect of the treatment. As an example and not by way oflimitation, particular treatments may exhibit social components, suchas, for example, social advertisements, text/video chat, messaging,social networking, etc. For example, for text/video chatting features,those features are only useful if user i has one or more neighbors j tochat with. An individual/user is considered to be in the treatment groupif the individual is provided with the treatment for the test, and inthe control group otherwise. There may be an underlying numericalresponse variable of interest (for example, the user's time-on-site ineach condition), and social-networking system 160 may estimate theaverage of this response in both the universe where everyone has theservice, and the universe where no one has the service. Let {right arrowover (z)}∈{0,1}^(n) be the treatment assignment vector, where z₁=1 meansthat user i is in the treatment group and z_(i)=0 means the user i is inthe control. Let Y₁({right arrow over (z)}′)∈R be the potential outcomeof user i under the treatment assignment vector {right arrow over (z)}.We are interested in is the average treatment effect, τ, between the twogroups {right arrow over (z)}=1, and {right arrow over (z)}′={rightarrow over (0)}, where the average treatment effect may be calculatedas:

${\tau\left( {{\overset{\rightarrow}{z} = \overset{\rightharpoonup}{1}},{{\overset{\rightarrow}{z}}^{\prime} = \overset{\rightharpoonup}{0}}} \right)} = {\frac{1}{n}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}\;{\left\lceil {{Y_{1}\left( {\overset{\rightarrow}{z} = \overset{\rightarrow}{1}} \right)} - {Y_{i}\left( {{\overset{\rightarrow}{z}}^{\prime} = \overset{\rightharpoonup}{0}} \right)}} \right\rceil.}}}$In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may determineboth an individual effect of the treatment for the users and the networkeffect of the treatment for the users. The treatment effect of aparticular treatment may be a function of both the network effect andthe individual effect. The non-social component of the treatment may bereferred to as the individual effect of the treatment. A treatment hasan individual component in that i's reaction to the treatment does notdepend on whether a neighbor j in the online social network also has thetreatment. As an example and not by way of limitation, a socialadvertisement to user i may have an individual effect with respect touser i that is independent of whether one or more neighbors j are alsoexposed to social advertisements (although, of course, socialadvertisements may also have a network effect). Distinguishing andmeasuring both the individual and network effects of a particulartreatment may be useful for determining how to best modify a treatmentin order to increase or improve user engagement with the treatment.Although this disclosure describes determining treatment effects in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates determining treatmenteffects in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 160 may provide thetreatment to a second set of users. The processed described herein maythen be repeated as necessary until the treatment has been provided toall users of the online social network. In this way, an advertisement,feature, or product may be rolled-out out to users of the online socialnetwork. In particular embodiments, after the treatment effect has beendetermined for the first set of users, social-networking system 160 maymodify the treatment based on the determined treatment effect of thetreatment. The advertisement, feature, or product may be modified basedon the determined treatment effect to, for example, optimize a user'sinteractions or experience with the treatment. The modified treatmentmay then be provided to an additional set of users, and successivelymodified and rolled-out to additional users until, for example, it hasbeen sufficiently improved and can be launched to the entire onlinesocial network. Although this disclosure describes providing a treatmentand determining treatment effects in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates providing a treatment or determining treatmenteffects in any suitable manner.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method 300 for testing native applicationson remote clients. The method may begin at step 310, wheresocial-networking system 160 may deploy an application to a plurality ofclient systems 130 associated with a plurality of users, respectively.The application may be installed on each of the client systems 130.Furthermore, one or more treatments may be able to be remotely activatedon the application. At step 320, social-networking system 160 mayprovide a first treatment of the application to a first set of clientsystems 130 of the plurality of client systems 130. The first set ofclient systems 130 may be associated with a first set of users of theplurality of users, respectively. In particular embodiments, step 320may comprise one or more of the following sub-steps: At step 322,social-networking system 160 may receive a request from the applicationinstalled on the client system 130 to access one or more of thecomputing devices of social-networking system 160. At step 324,social-networking system 160 may determine whether the client system 130belongs in a treatment group associated with the first treatment. Atstep 326, social-networking system 160 may remotely activate the firsttreatment on the client system 130 if the client system 130 belongs inthe treatment group. At step 328, social-networking system 160 maysynchronize activation of the first treatment in response to subsequentaccess by the client system 130. At step 330, social-networking system160 may receive exposure data from the first set of client systems 130.The exposure data for each client system 130 may identify an exposure ofthe user of the client system 130 to the first treatment. Particularembodiments may repeat one or more steps of the method of FIG. 3, whereappropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustratesparticular steps of the method of FIG. 3 as occurring in a particularorder, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method ofFIG. 3 occurring in any suitable order. Moreover, although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates an example method for testingnative applications on remote clients including the particular steps ofthe method of FIG. 3, this disclosure contemplates any suitable methodfor testing native applications on remote clients including any suitablesteps, which may include all, some, or none of the steps of the methodof FIG. 3, where appropriate. Furthermore, although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates particular components, devices, or systemscarrying out particular steps of the method of FIG. 3, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components,devices, or systems carrying out any suitable steps of the method ofFIG. 3.

In particular embodiments, an advertisement may be text (which may beHTML-linked), one or more images (which may be HTML-linked), one or morevideos, audio, one or more ADOBE FLASH files, a suitable combination ofthese, or any other suitable advertisement in any suitable digitalformat presented on one or more webpages, in one or more e-mails, or inconnection with search results requested by a user. In addition or as analternative, an advertisement may be one or more sponsored stories(e.g., a news-feed or ticker item on social-networking system 160). Asponsored story may be a social action by a user (such as “liking” apage, “liking” or commenting on a post on a page, RSVPing to an eventassociated with a page, voting on a question posted on a page, checkingin to a place, using an application or playing a game, or “liking” orsharing a website) that an advertiser promotes, for example, by havingthe social action presented within a pre-determined area of a profilepage of a user or other page, presented with additional informationassociated with the advertiser, bumped up or otherwise highlightedwithin news feeds or tickers of other users, or otherwise promoted. Theadvertiser may pay to have the social action promoted. As an example andnot by way of limitation, advertisements may be included among thesearch results of a search-results page, where sponsored content ispromoted over non-sponsored content. In particular embodiments, one ormore advertisements may be tested on one or more clusters of users ofthe online social network using network-aware product rollout techniquesdescribed previously.

In particular embodiments, an advertisement may be requested for displaywithin social-networking-system webpages, third-party webpages, or otherpages. An advertisement may be displayed in a dedicated portion of apage, such as in a banner area at the top of the page, in a column atthe side of the page, in a GUI of the page, in a pop-up window, in adrop-down menu, in an input field of the page, over the top of contentof the page, or elsewhere with respect to the page. In addition or as analternative, an advertisement may be displayed within an application. Anadvertisement may be displayed within dedicated pages, requiring theuser to interact with or watch the advertisement before the user mayaccess a page or utilize an application. The user may, for example viewthe advertisement through a web browser.

A user may interact with an advertisement in any suitable manner. Theuser may click or otherwise select the advertisement. By selecting theadvertisement, the user may be directed to (or a browser or otherapplication being used by the user) a page associated with theadvertisement. At the page associated with the advertisement, the usermay take additional actions, such as purchasing a product or serviceassociated with the advertisement, receiving information associated withthe advertisement, or subscribing to a newsletter associated with theadvertisement. An advertisement with audio or video may be played byselecting a component of the advertisement (like a “play button”).Alternatively, by selecting the advertisement, social-networking system160 may execute or modify a particular action of the user.

An advertisement may also include social-networking-system functionalitythat a user may interact with. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an advertisement may enable a user to “like” or otherwiseendorse the advertisement by selecting an icon or link associated withendorsement. As another example and not by way of limitation, anadvertisement may enable a user to search (e.g., by executing a query)for content related to the advertiser. Similarly, a user may share theadvertisement with another user (e.g., through social-networking system160) or RSVP (e.g., through social-networking system 160) to an eventassociated with the advertisement. In addition or as an alternative, anadvertisement may include social-networking-system context directed tothe user. As an example and not by way of limitation, an advertisementmay display information about a friend of the user withinsocial-networking system 160 who has taken an action associated with thesubject matter of the advertisement.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example computer system 400. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 400 perform one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 400 provide functionalitydescribed or illustrated herein. In particular embodiments, softwarerunning on one or more computer systems 400 performs one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein or providesfunctionality described or illustrated herein. Particular embodimentsinclude one or more portions of one or more computer systems 400.Herein, reference to a computer system may encompass a computing device,and vice versa, where appropriate. Moreover, reference to a computersystem may encompass one or more computer systems, where appropriate.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems400. This disclosure contemplates computer system 400 taking anysuitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation,computer system 400 may be an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip(SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, acomputer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computersystem, a laptop or notebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, amainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a server, a tablet computer system, or acombination of two or more of these. Where appropriate, computer system400 may include one or more computer systems 400; be unitary ordistributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; spanmultiple data centers; or reside in a cloud, which may include one ormore cloud components in one or more networks. Where appropriate, one ormore computer systems 400 may perform without substantial spatial ortemporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods describedor illustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, oneor more computer systems 400 may perform in real time or in batch modeone or more steps of one or more methods described or illustratedherein. One or more computer systems 400 may perform at different timesor at different locations one or more steps of one or more methodsdescribed or illustrated herein, where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, computer system 400 includes a processor 402,memory 404, storage 406, an input/output (I/O) interface 408, acommunication interface 410, and a bus 412. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates a particular computer system having aparticular number of particular components in a particular arrangement,this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having anysuitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.

In particular embodiments, processor 402 includes hardware for executinginstructions, such as those making up a computer program. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 402 mayretrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, aninternal cache, memory 404, or storage 406; decode and execute them; andthen write one or more results to an internal register, an internalcache, memory 404, or storage 406. In particular embodiments, processor402 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, oraddresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 402 including anysuitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate. Asan example and not by way of limitation, processor 402 may include oneor more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or moretranslation lookaside buffers (TLBs). Instructions in the instructioncaches may be copies of instructions in memory 404 or storage 406, andthe instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions byprocessor 402. Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory404 or storage 406 for instructions executing at processor 402 tooperate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor402 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 402 orfor writing to memory 404 or storage 406; or other suitable data. Thedata caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 402. TheTLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 402. Inparticular embodiments, processor 402 may include one or more internalregisters for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosurecontemplates processor 402 including any suitable number of any suitableinternal registers, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 402may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-coreprocessor; or include one or more processors 402. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable processor.

In particular embodiments, memory 404 includes main memory for storinginstructions for processor 402 to execute or data for processor 402 tooperate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system400 may load instructions from storage 406 or another source (such as,for example, another computer system 400) to memory 404. Processor 402may then load the instructions from memory 404 to an internal registeror internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 402 mayretrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cacheand decode them. During or after execution of the instructions,processor 402 may write one or more results (which may be intermediateor final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor402 may then write one or more of those results to memory 404. Inparticular embodiments, processor 402 executes only instructions in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 404 (asopposed to storage 406 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one ormore internal registers or internal caches or in memory 404 (as opposedto storage 406 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (which may eachinclude an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 402 tomemory 404. Bus 412 may include one or more memory buses, as describedbelow. In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units(MMUs) reside between processor 402 and memory 404 and facilitateaccesses to memory 404 requested by processor 402. In particularembodiments, memory 404 includes random access memory (RAM). This RAMmay be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAMmay be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, whereappropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 404 may include one ormore memories 404, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates anysuitable memory.

In particular embodiments, storage 406 includes mass storage for data orinstructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 406may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory,an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more of these. Storage406 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, whereappropriate. Storage 406 may be internal or external to computer system400, where appropriate. In particular embodiments, storage 406 isnon-volatile, solid-state memory. In particular embodiments, storage 406includes read-only memory (ROM). Where appropriate, this ROM may bemask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM),or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these. Thisdisclosure contemplates mass storage 406 taking any suitable physicalform. Storage 406 may include one or more storage control unitsfacilitating communication between processor 402 and storage 406, whereappropriate. Where appropriate, storage 406 may include one or morestorages 406. Although this disclosure describes and illustratesparticular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.

In particular embodiments, I/O interface 408 includes hardware,software, or both, providing one or more interfaces for communicationbetween computer system 400 and one or more I/O devices. Computer system400 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate. Oneor more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a personand computer system 400. As an example and not by way of limitation, anI/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone, monitor, mouse,printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet, touch screen,trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination oftwo or more of these. An I/O device may include one or more sensors.This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitableI/O interfaces 408 for them. Where appropriate, I/O interface 408 mayinclude one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 402 todrive one or more of these I/O devices. I/O interface 408 may includeone or more I/O interfaces 408, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 410 includeshardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces forcommunication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) betweencomputer system 400 and one or more other computer systems 400 or one ormore networks. As an example and not by way of limitation, communicationinterface 410 may include a network interface controller (NIC) ornetwork adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-basednetwork or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicatingwith a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosurecontemplates any suitable network and any suitable communicationinterface 410 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation,computer system 400 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personalarea network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of theInternet or a combination of two or more of these. One or more portionsof one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless. As anexample, computer system 400 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN)(such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAXnetwork, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), or other suitablewireless network or a combination of two or more of these. Computersystem 400 may include any suitable communication interface 410 for anyof these networks, where appropriate. Communication interface 410 mayinclude one or more communication interfaces 410, where appropriate.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particularcommunication interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitablecommunication interface.

In particular embodiments, bus 412 includes hardware, software, or bothcoupling components of computer system 400 to each other. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, bus 412 may include an AcceleratedGraphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry StandardArchitecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT)interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBANDinterconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro ChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, aPCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, oranother suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 412may include one or more buses 412, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.

Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media mayinclude one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits(ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) orapplication-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid harddrives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs),magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppydisk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs),RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitablecomputer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitablecombination of two or more of these, where appropriate. Acomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile,non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, whereappropriate.

Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicatedotherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B”means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicatedotherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unlessexpressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,”unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.

The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsdescribed or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill inthe art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited tothe example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover,although this disclosure describes and illustrates respectiveembodiments herein as including particular components, elements,feature, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments mayinclude any combination or permutation of any of the components,elements, features, functions, operations, or steps described orillustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in theart would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims toan apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system beingadapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operableto, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses thatapparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particularfunction is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as thatapparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable,configured, enabled, operable, or operative.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising, by an application server: deploying, by the application server, an application to a plurality of client systems associated with a plurality of users, respectively, wherein the application is installed on each of the client systems, and wherein one or more treatments can be remotely activated on the application; receiving, from a first client system associated with a first user of the plurality of users, a request from the application installed on the first client system to access the application server; determining, by the application server, whether the first user belongs in a treatment group associated with a first treatment; remotely activating, by the application server, the first treatment on the first client system associated with the first user if the first user belongs in the treatment group, wherein remotely activating the first treatment comprises modifying the behavior of the application installed on the first client system associated with the first user; and synchronizing, by the application server, remote activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user in response to subsequent requests from the application installed on the first client system, wherein synchronizing remote activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user comprises maintaining the first user in the treatment group and maintaining activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user through one or more treatment-disabling events involving the first client system associated with the first user, wherein maintaining activation of the first treatment through a treatment-disabling event allows the first user to continue experiencing the modification of the application associated with the first treatment on the first client system after the treatment-disabling event.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the first client system, exposure data identifying an exposure of the first user to the first treatment.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a treatment effect of the first treatment for the first user based on exposure data received from the first client system.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: modifying the first treatment based on the determined treatment effect of the first treatment.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: deactivating the first treatment on the first client system after a specified timeout period.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the first client system, conversion data identifying user interactions with respect to the first treatment.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein synchronizing activation of the first treatment in response to subsequent access by the first client system comprises: determining whether the first treatment is active on the first client system; and remotely re-activating the first treatment on the first client system if the first treatment is determined to be not active on the first client system.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: accessing a social graph comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the nodes, each of the edges between two of the nodes representing a single degree of separation between them, the plurality of nodes corresponding to a plurality of users associated with an online social network, respectively.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: identifying a plurality of clusters in the social graph using graph cluster randomization, each cluster comprising a discrete set of nodes from the plurality of nodes, wherein a threshold number of nodes in each cluster is network exposed with respect to the other nodes in the cluster.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first user corresponds to a node in a first cluster of the plurality of clusters.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: remotely activating the first treatment on one or more second client systems associated with one or more second users of the plurality of users, respectively, the one or more second client systems corresponding to one or more nodes in a second cluster of the plurality of clusters, the first cluster being discrete from the second cluster.
 12. The method of claim 1, determining whether the first user belongs in the treatment group associated with a first treatment comprises determining whether the first user belongs in a treatment set of users or a control set of users.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first treatment is a particular advertisement.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first treatment is a particular product or feature associated with the application.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the client systems are mobile client systems.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the application server is a server associated with an online social network.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is a mobile application for accessing an online social network.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more treatment-disabling events comprises one or more of: a cache-clearing event; a deletion event; or a deployment event.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining activation of the first treatment on the first client system through one or more treatment-disabling events comprises remotely re-activating the treatment of the application responsive to determining the treatment is inactive on the first client system following a treatment-disabling event.
 20. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to: deploy, by an application server, an application to a plurality of client systems associated with a plurality of users, respectively, wherein the application is installed on each of the client systems, and wherein one or more treatments can be remotely activated on the application; receive, from a first client system associated with a first user of the plurality of users, a request from the application installed on the first client system to access the application server; determine, by the application server, whether the first user belongs in a treatment group associated with a first treatment; remotely activate, by the application server, the first treatment on the first client system associated with the first user if the first user belongs in the treatment group, wherein remotely activating the first treatment comprises modifying the behavior of the application installed on the first client system associated with the first user; and synchronize, by the application server, remote activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user in response to subsequent requests from the application installed on the first client system, wherein synchronizing remote activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user comprises maintaining the first user in the treatment group and maintaining activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user through one or more treatment-disabling events involving the first client system associated with the first user, wherein maintaining activation of the first treatment through a treatment-disabling event allows the first user to continue experiencing the modification of the application associated with the first treatment on the first client system after the treatment-disabling event.
 21. A system comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors operable when executing the instructions to: deploy, by an application server, an application to a plurality of client systems associated with a plurality of users, respectively, wherein the application is installed on each of the client systems, and wherein one or more treatments can be remotely activated on the application; receive, from a first client system associated with a first user of the plurality of users, a request from the application installed on the first client system to access the application server; determine, by the application server, whether the first user belongs in a treatment group associated with a first treatment; remotely activate, by the application server, the first treatment on the first client system associated with the first user if the first user belongs in the treatment group, wherein remotely activating the first treatment comprises modifying the behavior of the application installed on the first client system associated with the first user; and synchronize, by the application server, remote activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user in response to subsequent requests from the application installed on the first client system, wherein synchronizing remote activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user comprises maintaining the first user in the treatment group and maintaining activation of the first treatment on the application on the first client system associated with the first user through one or more treatment-disabling events involving the first client system associated with the first user, wherein maintaining activation of the first treatment through a treatment-disabling event allows the first user to continue experiencing the modification of the application associated with the first treatment on the first client system after the treatment-disabling event.
 22. The system of claim 21, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: receive, from the first client system, exposure data identifying an exposure of the first user to the first treatment.
 23. The system of claim 21, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: determine a treatment effect of the first treatment for the first user based on exposure data received from the first client system.
 24. The system of claim 23, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: modify the first treatment based on the determined treatment effect of the first treatment.
 25. The system of claim 21, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: deactivate the first treatment on the first client system after a specified timeout period.
 26. The system of claim 21, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: receive, from the first client system, conversion data identifying user interactions with respect to the first treatment.
 27. The system of claim 21, wherein synchronizing activation of the first treatment in response to subsequent access by the first client system comprises: determining whether the first treatment is active on the first client system; and remotely re-activating the first treatment on the first client system if the first treatment is determined to be not active on the first client system.
 28. The system of claim 21, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: access a social graph comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the nodes, each of the edges between two of the nodes representing a single degree of separation between them, the plurality of nodes corresponding to a plurality of users associated with an online social network, respectively.
 29. The system of claim 28, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: identify a plurality of clusters in the social graph using graph cluster randomization, each cluster comprising a discrete set of nodes from the plurality of nodes, wherein a threshold number of nodes in each cluster is network exposed with respect to the other nodes in the cluster.
 30. The system of claim 29, wherein the first user corresponds to a node in a first cluster of the plurality of clusters.
 31. The system of claim 30, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: remotely activate the first treatment on one or more second client systems associated with one or more second users of the plurality of users, respectively, the one or more second client systems corresponding to one or more nodes in a second cluster of the plurality of clusters, the first cluster being discrete from the second cluster.
 32. The system of claim 21, wherein determining whether the first user belongs in the treatment group associated with a first treatment comprises determining whether the first user belongs in a treatment set of users or a control set of users.
 33. The system of claim 21, wherein the first treatment is a particular advertisement.
 34. The system of claim 21, wherein the first treatment is a particular product or feature associated with the application.
 35. The system of claim 21, wherein the client systems are mobile client systems.
 36. The system of claim 21, wherein the application server is a server associated with an online social network.
 37. The system of claim 21, wherein the application is a mobile application for accessing an online social network.
 38. The system of claim 21, wherein the one or more treatment-disabling events comprises one or more of: a cache-clearing event; a deletion event; or a deployment event.
 39. The system of claim 21, wherein maintaining activation of the first treatment on the first client system through one or more treatment-disabling events comprises remotely re-activating the treatment of the application responsive to determining the treatment is inactive on the first client system following a treatment-disabling event. 